Anne. As the phone clicks I go into a semi-trance wondering what on earth posessed me to do that. Oh well. I might be pleasantly surprised.
This thought takes longer than I thought the thought would take. Before I know it there's a hideous rapping at the door and I practically jump out of my skin because no-one EVER knocks here.
-Eloise! Wow, it's so nice to see you. You look great.
Hug. Alarms in my head at the shiver of sudden contact. I think I need mental sunglasses to protect me from how bright my persona is right now.
-Good to see you too, Anne...you look pale though, lucky I'm here to bring you out of hibernation...
The bitterness in my head meets the act I'm presenting quite jarringly. Surely, surely, this is a kind of insanity. Surely it's not quite right for these binary opposites to meet inside one body.
I give a hopefully un-obviously forced laugh.
-I told you, I had a lot of work to do.
I motion to the stack of papers that contain information concerning subjects I'm yet to learn the nature of. She gives me a sympathetic look, and some noises to go with it. I'd quite like to leave the house now.
-Shall we go, then? Where are we tonight?
-Everywhere, Anne, we haven't seen you for ages and unless you've been hiding something from us, you haven't seen the town for ages either. We are going out out.
I wonder if I should be concerned. Probably. But I'll try to forget about it.
At this point I'm feeling quite the optimist- maybe this is a solution. Forget about myself for one evening. Maybe if I did that, I could remember a time before the world began to fail every mad expectation. I decide, as I look at Eloise, glittering in front of me, that I want a healing process.
It could begin right now.
Yves. I feel drunk but I'm just too thirsty. I forgot to pace myself ingesting this place, it's completely gone to my head. I drag myself up the final flight of stairs, probably looking a sight- pulling myself along by the blue metal banister. It occurs to me now that these hallways are painted a rather unfortunate colour. The flourescent strip lights bathe it in a kind of hangover glow, it's a little sleazy office-like for my taste, but it's clearly no real issue. I didn't realise on the way up/down earlier how long the stairs are.
Then/now- noises, people noises. I'd better stop half-lying on the banister and attempt to look at least a little like a part of my supposed species. I wonder what kind of people I'm sharing this building with...
Colourfeathersglitterchemicalslightsglowingfightinglaughingcuriousamazedsurprisedmagic just happened. I don't know what just happened. Somethig rushed past me, maybe ten, maybe three, maybe ten thousand people just ran past, made of noise and blurred movement. That was surprising, I have to say. They are completely gone as soon as I've recovered from the shock, and as I close my eyes I see the negative imprint of them-a mad, incomprehensible thing-but in the middle, something different. A totally black-clad eye to their storm. The one moment of focus in it all- two eyes that are ice caves, and they freeze me for a second. Now they are gone, and I desperately want to, but I can't, bring back that picture again, just to see exactly what it was.
I'm totally drained now. Outside my door, nearly dropping my keys, and when I walk in the room is suddenly strange, or, a stranger to me. This is going to take getting used to.
I lie down on the mattress that is currently on the floor, and I'm so completely tired it takes maybe three minutes of staring at my ceiling that is totally smooth except for one ominous-looking crack from the left hand corner of the room until I fall asleep.
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